The invention relates to containers in general, and more particularly to improvements in containers of the type known as boxes. Still more particularly, the invention relates to improvements in box-shaped containers which can be made of cardboard or other relatively stiff material and which can be utilized with advantage for temporary or longer-lasting storage of stacks of paper sheets or the like.
It is known to drape reams paper sheets (e.g., sheets of copy paper) into wrappers of paper, foil or other suitable wrapping material and to stack five of the resulting packages on top of each other in a container of cardboard or the like. The five packages at least substantially fill the respective container, and the uppermost package can be concealed beneath a standard cover having depending lateral walls which overlie the top portions of external surfaces of upstanding sidewalls and end walls of the container. The cover is telescoped onto the open top of the container. An advantage of such containers is that they can be practically completely filled with. commodities in the form of packages of paper sheets or the like. However, such containers also exhibit certain serious drawbacks, especially as concerns the convenience of removing the cover and/or of removing individual packages of groups of two or more packages from the space between the bottom wall and the side- and end walls of the container. Moreover, it is rather difficult to remove a portion of or the entire wrapper of a package while the latter is still confined in the space between the bottom, side- and end walls of the container. On the other hand, it is often desirable and necessary to gain access to the interior of a properly filled and covered container with little loss in time and with a minimum of effort, e.g., to withdraw wrapped reams of copying paper in an office or a similar establishment. The same holds true for removal of wrapped reams of printing paper from containers which are made of cardboard or other suitable form-retaining material. For example, a secretary or clerk in an office should be capable of removing a wrapped package of paper sheets from a cardboard box with a minimum of effort preparatory to insertion into a computer, a copying machine or a telecopier.